Stephen Handschu

Stephen Handschu — Sculptor

Steve Handschu was born with only five percent standard vision. He started sculpting when he was seven years old.

"I didn't know the word for sculpture but I knew that carving was something very unusual and very mysterious to me and I wanted to learn how," said Steve.

He now sculpts images from natural wood using power tools that would intimidate many sighted people, and he has become an eloquent advocate for other blind people's abilities. He is also an artistic mentor, helping residents of a Lake View homeless shelter express their own struggles- against drugs, poverty, powerlessness- in sculpture.

When he lived in Michigan from the 1970's to the early 1990's, he was an appointed state commissioner for the blind and an outspoken advocate for a Braille literacy law and other blind-rights issues.